Chris Hoy – Keynote Speaker

Sir Chris Hoy MBE, multiple world and Olympic champion track cyclist, was born and raised in Edinburgh. He is one of Great Britain’s most successful Olympic athletes, with six gold medals and one silver.

Chris won his first Olympic gold medal in Athens 2004 in the Kilo – an event that was dropped from the programme for Beijing 2008. Chris took this in his stride and switched his focus to three other track sprint events – the Keirin, Sprint and Team Sprint. He went on to win a gold medal in all three at the Beijing Olympics, cementing his name in the history books.

Following his historic hat-trick of gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, Chris was voted 2008 BBC Sports Personality of the Year. He was also awarded a Knighthood in the 2009 New Year Honours list, capping an extraordinary year for the track cyclist from Edinburgh.

In 2012 at his home Olympic Games in London, Chris won his fifth and sixth gold medals – in the Keirin and Team Sprint – becoming Great Britain’s most successful Olympic athlete of all time with six gold medals and one silver.

As well as his sporting achievements, Chris has a BSc Honours in Applied Sports Science from the University of Edinburgh. In 2005 he was awarded two Honorary Doctorates – one from the University of Edinburgh and another from Heriot-Watt University. He was also awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours List. In 2009 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of St Andrews.

Chris retired from competitive cycling in 2013 and his achievements throughout his career make him Scotland’s most successful Olympian, the first Briton since 1908 to win three gold medals in a single Olympic Games, and one of the most successful Olympic male cyclists of all time.

A motorsport enthusiast, in June 2016 Chris added to his record list of achievements when he finished the world’s most demanding motorsport endurance race, the Le Mans 24 Hours, on his debut.

Following his retirement Chris remains passionate about bikes, successfully launching a range of kids bikes, HOY bikes, as well as publishing a series of children’s books – Flying Fergus. The highly popular series, featuring nine-year-old Fergus Hamilton and his adventures, now has ten instalments. Most recently in October 2020 Chris published a non-fiction book for children called Be Amazing! to show young readers nothing is impossible.

A polished public speaker and media presenter, Chris is now a main stay amongst sporting commentary and punditry in the UK. He was an integral part of the BBC’s team covering the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games, the 2018 and 2022 European Championships and the Tour de France. Chris also played a pivotal role in the development and launch of the UCI Track Champions League in 2021, extending his duties to track side punditry for Eurosport.